An Introduction to the
Gifts Project

Teachers Helping Children

A person who is endowed with talent and natural ability is said by Webster's Dictionary to be gifted. Webster's goes on to say that a gift is the act, right, or power to give. What the dictionary does not say is that every person has an endowment of gifts they need only to be recognized. The book that Carroll Killingsworth and Ginny Hoover are currently writing seeks to give enlightenment to those concepts.

It is traditional to have one's gifts recognized, acknowledged, and appreciated by someone else. In this book, we declare with assurance that the responsibility for determination of gifts finally accrues to the individual. While others are welcome to offer observations, present their evidence, and guide us toward our own paths, it is the ultimate responsibility of the individual to claim his/her gifts.

It is the self focus on our gifts as we perceive them that brings each of us to full adult responsibility. Our perception of self worth and full grasp of that concept allows us to know of what we are capable. With this perception and acceptance of our endowments, we are enabled to make the transition from having to giving.

Each student needs to self-evaluate and make the transition to responsible adulthood. This book, The Gifts of Children, (soon to be published) will provide a format and blueprint for such participation by each child. Because it is the final responsibility of each person to determine his/her own gifts, each child must participate and make the final selections of the gifts he/she wishes to have recognized.